Ramp plate and loader for mineral conveyors

ABSTRACT

The invention discloses space-clearing means for use particularly in long-wall mining, comprising a train of ploughs mounted for movement along a guide ramp on the face side of a conveyor. The ploughs are linked by means transmitting both tension and compression and means are provided whereby a cutting machine can engage any selected plough of the train to push or pull the ploughs in any combination, in either direction of the machine.

waited States Patent [451 Sept. 26, 1972 Bingham RAMP PLATE AND LOADER FOR MINERAL CONVEYORS [72] Inventor: Terrence Ronald Bingham, Doncaster, England [73] Assignee: Green & Bingham Limited,

Yorkshire, England [22] Filed: Nov. 2, 1970 [2i] Appl. No.: 85,907

[52] US. Cl ..299/34, 299/43 [51] Int. Cl ..E21c 27/35 [58] Field of Search ..299/34, 43

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,363,946 1/1968 Willner et al ..299/43 Weber ..299/43 x l-lauschopp ..299/43 X Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Attorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher [5 7] ABSTRACT 14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP 26 I972 SHEET 1 [IF 4 a INVENTOR TERRENCE RONALD BINGHAM ma w TORNEYS PATENTEnsiPzs m SHEET 2 OF 4 i I? //M// PATENTEUSEP26 m2 SHEET 3 [IF 4 RAMP PLATE AND LOADER FOR MINERAL CONVEYORS This invention relates to mining equipment and particularly to space-clearing means for use in long-wall mining.

In this system of mining a long face is opened up by a cutting machine and the coal or other mineral being worked is received by a face conveyor for conveying the coal away from the working. It is important that the face conveyor be maintained as close to the face as possible and, after a face has been cut by the machine, the conveyor is thrust towards the new coal face to receive the coal or other mineral when a new cut is made along the face. This movement of the conveyor is usually carried out in stages along the conveyor length by hydraulic rams on the usual hydraulic ram roof support.

The space between the face conveyor and the face must be kept free from cut material in order that intervening material will not prevent the conveyor from being positioned close to the face. Various systems for clearing this space are already known, for example, it is known to use ramp plates of triangular section bolted to the face wall of the conveyor to form a long ramp with an inclined face leading upwardly onto the conveyor. The act of moving the conveyor towards the face causes loose material to ride up the inclined face into the conveyor. It is also known to employ a train of ploughs movable along a guide ramp on the face side of the conveyor to force loose material up the ramp and on to the conveyor. Most commonly such ploughs are driven through a chain by drive means which is independent of the cutting machine. However it has been proposed to tow such ploughs behind a cutting machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide space-clearing means having greater versatility and which are easier to handle than existing means.

Accordingly the present invention space-clearing means for mines comprises a guide ramp adapted to be secured to the face side of a conveyor, a train of ploughs mounted for movement along the guide ramp, linking means between every pair of adjacent ploughs, the linking means being such that it may be placed either in tension or in compression to transmit movement from one plough to an adjacent plough, and means engageable by a cutting machine to transmit movement of the machine to the ploughs so that the machine may either push or pull the ploughs in both directions of movement of the machine.

The invention provides a train of space-clearing ploughs which can either be pushed ahead of or pulled behind a cutting machine in either direction of travel of the cutting machine. While it is known for a cutting machine to pull a train of ploughs, the ability to push the train is novel and is important in increasing the effectiveness of the space clearing operation in certain conditions. Although ploughs could be moved either ahead of or behind a cutting machine using separate drive means for the ploughs, there are obvious advantages in using the cutting machine as the motive power for the ploughs.

Preferably each individual plough in the train has means engageable by means on the cutting machine to .transmit movement of the cutting machine in either direction to the train of ploughs.

This feature enables the cutting machine to be engaged with any one plough of the train; if engaged with the leading one, the ploughs will be pulled; if engaged with the trailing one the ploughs will be pushed. Engagement with an intermediate plough of the train is possible, whereupon some ploughs will be pushed and some pulled. It will be appreciated that it is a simple matter to arrange desired numbers of ploughs ahead of and behind the cutting machine to suit the conditions under which working is taking place.

Although it is preferred to have engageable means actually on the ploughs themselves it will be understood that it is possible to have engageable means separate from the ploughs, for example secured to part of the linking means.

The engageable means on the ploughs are preferably fixed. The cutting machine is then provided with means whereby it may releasably be engaged with any desired one of the ploughs, the means being such that when not engaged the cutting machine can run freely over the train of ploughs. Alternatively the engageable means on the ploughs or the linkages may be controllable so that they will or will not be engaged by the cutting machine.

The linking means preferably comprises a continuous wire rope anchored at its ends respectively to the two ends of the train, and one or more rigid sleeves surrounding the rope and positioned between adjacent ploughs. The wire rope transmits movement in tension from plough to plough, while the sleeves transmit movement in compression.

Conveniently a sleeve and a plough, or two adjacent sleeves, are spaced apart by a spacing collar having a central section and end sections tapering downwardly from the central section to fit in bores in the sleeves or ploughs, and each spacing collar has a central axial bore of diameter sufficient to receive and hold the wire rope against transverse movement within the bore. This arrangement allows flexibility between adjacent sleeves and ploughs so that the train may negotiate the corners created by the snaking of the conveyor towards the face, and also centers the wire rope in the sleeves and the bores through the ploughs to prevent rubbing of the ro e.

The lengths of the ploughs and sleeves may conveniently be made equal, so that a desired train may be built up on the modular principle.

Preferably the guide ramp is provided at the face side of its foot section with a toe plate extending beyond the face side of the ploughs. This ensures that the conveyor can not be forced against the face sufficiently to interfere with the movement of the ploughs along the guide ramp. The projection distance of the toe plate may be selected to suit the working conditions, and the end of the toe plate is preferably downwardly chamfered to become substantially knife edged, so facilitating movement of the guide ramp to a position wherein the toe plate actually contacts the face.

The guiding engagement between the ploughs and the guide ramp may take any one of a number of forms. Conveniently a single longitudinal guide member on the lower part of the plough fits into a single longitudinally extending guide channel in the lower partof the guide ramp. If desired interengaging guide means may also be provided towards the top of the plough and guide ramp so that the ploughs have both top and bottom trapping. Top trapping alone is a further alternative which can be used.

From another aspect the present invention includes long-wall mining equipment comprising a face conveyor, a guide ramp extending facewards from the face side of the conveyor, :1 train of ploughs mounted for movement along the guide ramp, linking means between every pair of adjacent ploughs, the linking means being such that it may be placed either in tension or in compression to transmit movement from one plough to an adjacent plough, a cutting machine movable along the face, and means on the cutting machine and on the train whereby movement of the machine can be transmitted to the ploughs so that the machine may either push or pull the ploughs in both directions of movement of the machine.

Preferably the engageable means on each plough is fixed, and the engageable means on the cutting machine is movable so that it may either engage or disengage the engageable means on any plough.

Desirably the equipment includes control means for the engageable means on the cutting machine, the control means being operable from the goaf side of the cutting machine. Mounting of the control means on the goaf side is an important contribution to safety, since it ensures that no personnel need approach the face side of the cutting machine to couple this to, and uncouple it from, the ploughs.

A specific embodiment of equipment according to the invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevation on the face side of the equipment;

' FIG. 2 is a prospective assembly view of parts of the equipment;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line Ill III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line IV IV of FIG. 3 of parts only of the equipment; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic showing of part of a cutting machine.

As shown in FIG. 1 long-wall mining equipment includes a conveyor comprising a pan 1 which, it will be understood, extends the full length of the face being worked. A cutting machine, indicated schematically at 2 is mounted to move over the conveyor, and means are provided to drive the cutting machine along the face to cut a slice of, for example, coal from the face. Much of the cut coal fallson to the conveyor belt and is carried from the working region. As the cutting machine advances along the face, that part of the conveyor lying behind the cutting machine is moved over towards the freshly cut face by hydraulic rams, and roof support means are advanced to give support in the newly worked area. The technique of long-wall mining is now well known and no further description is deemed necessary for an understanding of this invention.

To enable the conveyor to be advanced as close as possible to the freshly cut face means must be provided for cleaning previously cut loose material from between the conveyor and the face, and this is the problem with which the present invention is concerned.

To this end, a guide ramp, shown generally as 3 is mounted on the face side of the conveyor pans 4. The

guide ramp could be formed integrally with the pan or it maybe a separate part made up of longitudinally extending sections placed end to end and secured to the pan by any convenient securing means. As shown in FIG. 3 a typical guide ramp comprises an L-shaped member of steel which forms a sole plate 5 and an upright back plate 6 drilled (not shown) for bolts to pass through, and through the front wall of the conveyor pans 4 to secure the guide ramp to the conveyor pans. Secured to the front face of the back plate 6, for example by welding or bolting, is a further L-section member 7, and welded or otherwise secured to this is an inclined front ramp plate 8. The ramp plate 8 extends below the lower extremity of the member 7 to from a longitudinally extending guide channel 9.

A train of ploughs 10 is mounted for longitudinal movement along the guide ramp. Each plough, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a rearwardly extending rib ll terminating in a tubular member 12 fitting within the channel 9 for easy sliding movement therein. The tubular member 12 may be welded or otherwise secured to the rib l I.

Each plough is shaped with upwardly and rearwardly inclined surfaces l3 which, as the plough is moved along the guide ramp, will tend to lift coal from the mine floor and direct it upwardly over the edge of the conveyor pan 4 and on to the conveyor belt. The plough niay be of any suitable known or other form. The plough shown in FIG. 3 is guided by bottom trapping only due to the interengagement of the member 12 and channel 9, but if required the plough may be provided with a rearwardly extending pendant top lip which may engage behind an upwardly extending part of the guide ramp to give additional top trapping of the plough. Alternatively top trapping only may be used. The type of trapping will depend on the type of working and the type of cutting machine being used. Some types of cutting machine have a trapping member which will engage the face side of the conveyor pan in the space 14 and thus top trapping of the plough 10 will not be possible. Other types of cutting machine do not have such a trapping member and top trapping of the plough may then take place. The exact form of the plough, and the type of trapping is not important to the present invention, which is chiefly concerned with the connection between the ploughs.

The sole plate 5 is formed with a toe section 5a having a chamfered upper face 5b so that the toe section ends in what is substantially knife-edge form. The toe section projects beyond the face side of the plough 10 mounted on the guide ramp as will be seen from FIG. 3.

One end of a train of ploughs is shown in FIG. I, and FIG. 4 shows one end plough of the train. It will be understood that as many ploughs as are considered necessary may be included in the train. At each end of the train there is provided a plough nose 15. The plough noses at each end of the train are joined by a wire rope 16 which extends through the bore 17 of the member 12 of each plough. Each end of the rope 16 has secured thereto a connector 18 with a threaded end 19 which may be screwed into a threaded bore 20 in the respective plough nose 15.

Each pair of adjacent ploughs has positioned therebetween one or more rigid sleeves 21, surrounding the wire rope l6. Adjacent ploughs and sleeves, and

adjacent sleeves are each spaced apart by a spacing collar 22 having a central section 23 and end sections 24 and 25 tapering downwardly from the central section and fitting within the bores 17 and 26 of the ploughs and the sleeves respectively. Each spacing collar 22 has a central axial bore 27 of a diameter such that the rope 16 may be received in the bore and held therein against transverse movement.

The sleeves 21 are preferably all of the same length as the length of each plough 10. Each sleeve is provided with a plate 28 welded or otherwise secured thereto, the plate being of such a size that it projects into or through the space between the lower edge 30 of the plate 8 and the upper surface of the sole plate 5.

Each plough it) has an upstanding part 31 with which may be engaged a driving lug 32 on the cutting machine 2. The lug 32 may be moved between its lowered position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1 and a raised position shown in broken lines and clear of the upstanding parts 31 of the ploughs.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the lug will now be described with reference to FIG. 5, which shows part of the cutting machine with a face side cover plate removed. The lug 32 extends through a hold 33 in the cutting machine housing 33. The upper end of the lug is bifurcated and the two facing surfaces of the bifurcated end are each formed with an inclined slideway such as 35. A slide 36 carried by a wedge 37 engages the slideways 35. The wedge 37 is mounted for sliding action on a further slideway 38 fixed to the housing of the cutting machine. One end of the wedge 37 is formed with a hook 4i engaging a pin 41 carried at the end of a piston rod 42 having an associated piston working in a double-acting hydraulically operated cylinder 43 having connections 44 and 45. Fluid lines are connected to the connections and are included in an hydraulic circuit including a pump and control valve. The control valve is located remote from the cylinder on the goaf side of the cutting machine.

Operation of the equipment will now be described. Assume that a cutting operation has just been completed, so that the cutting machine lies at one end of the face and the conveyor has been moved towards the face so that the toe section 5b lies against the face along the full length of the face. The lug 32 of the cutting machine is retracted. The cutting machine is now advanced over the train of ploughs. until the desired number of ploughs lie ahead of and behind the cutting machine. The operator than operates the valve to extend the piston rod 4 2 to the position shown in H6. 5, wherein the lug 32 is lowered into engagement with the part 31 of the selected one of the ploughs 10. The cutter is then driven down the coal face, driving the ploughs with it. The sleeves ahead of the plough engaged by the cutter are in a state of compression and they push the ploughs ahead of the cutter. The plough nose 15, which is pushed by the leading plough places the wire rope in tension to pull the trailing plough and with it the other ploughs behind the cutting machine. The leading plough nose l5 loosens material remaining from the previous cut and the forward movement of the plough or ploughs ahead of the cutting machine move this material up the inclined ramp 8 on to the conveyor.

Coal cut by the cutting machine falls onto the conveyor, and also between the conveyor and the face, and

the ploughs following behind the machine force a large proportion of this material up the inclined ramp 8 on to the conveyor. The parts 28 projecting from the sleeves 21 ride in the entrance to channel 9 and prevent excessive loose material entering the channel to interfere with the free running of the ploughs. As the machine moves along the face the conveyor behind the machine is advanced towards the newly cut face. The chamfered toe section 5a assists in lifting loose material from the floor to allow the toe section to be moved very close to the face. The projection of the toe section beyond the ploughs it) ensures that these are not trapped against the face.

The advancing conveyor is bent to snake like form, and part of the train of ploughs usually has to negotiate the bends so formed. The spacing collars 22 allow angular movement of adjacent sleeves 21 or sleeves 21 and ploughs 10 relative to one another to a degree dependent on the angle of taper of the surfaces 24 and 25. This taper is of course, made sufficient so that the train can negotiate the anticipated curves. The fact that the wire rope 16 is a close fit in the bores 27 of the sleeves ensures that the rope is held central in the sleeves 21 and does not contact the sides of the sleeves. This ensures that the rope and sleeves negotiate paths of similar length, and ensures less wear on the ropes.

When the cutting machine reached the end of the face it is stopped, and the valve is changed over to retract the piston rod 42, so moving the wedge 37 from right to left as seen in FIG. 5 and raising the driving lug 32 out of engagement with the plough parts 31. The

cutting machine can thus be driven freely over the ploughs to a position where it may be engaged with another selected plough for the next cutting run in the opposite direction.

It has already been pointed out that the ploughs and guide ramp may be of different form to those shown, and it will be apparent that other modifications are possible. Thus, the form of the sleeves and spacing collars 22 may be different, or some other form of connection between adjacent ploughs allowing these to be both pushed and pulled may be used. For example rigid bars secured to the ploughs by universal joints may be employed. It is preferred to have all the sleeves and ploughs of the same length so that a train of desired form can be assembled on the modular principle, but this is not necessary. Any number of sleeves may be placed between adjacent ploughs, and the number between different ploughs of the train need not be the same. In some cases two adjacent ploughs may only be separated by a spacing collar, and no sleeves will be between the ploughs. The form of engaging drive means between the cutting machine and the ploughs may differ. If the lug 32 as described is used, then the means for raising and lowering this lug may take a different form. For example a mechanical linkage between the lug and an operating lever at the goaf side of the cutting machine may be used. A direct chain connection between a plough and the cutting machine is also possible, and this may be secured and released from the face side of the cutting machine. As already mentioned however, it is desirable to control engagement of the ploughdrive means from the goaf side of the cutting machine.

What I claim is:

l. Long-wall mining equipment comprising a face conveyor, a guide ramp extending facewards from the face side of said conveyor, a train of ploughs mounted for movement along said guide ramp, linking means between every pair of adjacent ploughs, said linking means for use both in tension and in compression for transmitting movement from one of said ploughs to an adjacent one of said ploughs, a cutting machine movable along the face, and means on said cutting machine and on said train for transmitting the movement of said cutting machine to said ploughs so that said machine may both push and pull said ploughs in both directions of movement of said machine.

2. Long-wall mining equipment as claim in claim 1 wherein each individual plough in said train has means engageable by said cutting machine for transmitting movement of said cutting machine in either direction to said train of ploughs.

3. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said engageable means on each said plough is fixed," and other engageable means is provided on said cutting machine and is movable so that it may engage and disengage said engageable means on any said plough. 3

4. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 3 including control means for said other engageable means on said cutting machine, said control means being operable from the goaf side of said cutting machine.

5. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said linking means comprises a continuous wire rope anchored at its ends respectively to the two ends of said train, and at least one rigid sleeve surrounding the rope and positioned between adjacent ploughs.

6. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein one of said sleeves and one of said ploughs are spaced apart by a spacing collar having a central section and end sections tapering downwardly from said central section to fit in bores in said sleeve and said plough respectively.

7. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein two adjacent sleeves are spaced apart by a spacing collar having a central section and end sections tapering downwardly from said central section to fit in bores in said sleeves.

8. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 6 in which each spacing collar has a central axial bore of diameter sufficient to receive and hold the wire rope against transverse movement within the bore.

9. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 8 in which each spacing collar has a central axial bore of diameter sufficient to receive and hold the wire rope against transverse movement within the bore.

10. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein each end of said wire rope is anchored to a plough nose adjacent to the respective end plough and extending away from said train.

11. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 10 wherein said toe plate has a downwardly chamfered end.

12. Long-wall mining equipment according to claim 5 in which the lengths of all said ploughs and all said I sleeves are equal.

Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said guide ramp has a foot section, and a toe plate is provided at the face side of said foot section extending beyond the face side of said ploughs.

14. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said plough has a single longitudinal guide member fitting into a single longitudinally extending guide channel in the lower part of said guide ramp. 

1. Long-wall mining equipment comprising a face conveyor, a guide ramp extending facewards from the face side of said conveyor, a train of ploughs mounted for movement along said guide ramp, linking means between every pair of adjacent ploughs, said linking means for use both in tension and in compression for transmitting movement from one of said ploughs to an adjacent one of said ploughs, a cutting machine movable along the face, and means on said cutting machine and on said train for transmitting the movement of said cutting machine to said ploughs so that said machine may both push and pull said ploughs in both directions of movement of said machine.
 2. Long-wall mining equipment as claim in claim 1 wherein each individual plough in said train has means engageable by said cutting machine for transmitting movement of said cutting machine in either direction to said train of ploughs.
 3. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 2 wherein said engageable means on each said plough is fixed, and other engageable means is provided on said cutting machine and is movable so that it may engage and disengage said engageable means on any said plough.
 4. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 3 including control means for said other engageable means on said cutting machine, said control means being operable from the goaf side of said cutting machine.
 5. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said linking means comprises a continuous wire rope anchored at its ends respectively to the two ends of said train, and at least one rigid sleeve surrounding the rope and positioned between adjacent ploughs.
 6. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein one of said sleeves and one of said ploughs are spaced apart by a spacing collar having a central section and end sections tapering downwardly from said central section to fit in bores in said sleeve and said plough respectively.
 7. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein two adjacent sleeves are spaced apart by a spacing collar having a central section and end sections tapering downwardly from said central section to fit in bores in said sleeves.
 8. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 6 in which each spacing collar has a central axial bore of diameter sufficient to receive and hold the wire rope against transverse movement within the bore.
 9. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 8 in which each spacing collar has a central axial bore of diameter sufficient to receive and hold the wire rope against transverse movement within the bore.
 10. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 5 wherein each end of said wire rope is anchored to a plough nose adjacent to the respective end plough and extending away from said train.
 11. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 10 wherein said toe plate has a downwardly chamfered end.
 12. Long-wall mining equipment according to claim 5 in which the lengths of all said ploughs and all said sleeves are equal.
 13. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said guide ramp has a foot section, and a toe plate is provided at the face side of sAid foot section extending beyond the face side of said ploughs.
 14. Long-wall mining equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said plough has a single longitudinal guide member fitting into a single longitudinally extending guide channel in the lower part of said guide ramp. 